


"Just because they didn't grow up doesn't mean we don't have to."

by riceman



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Happy Ending, Human AU, Middle School AU, Other, Sexist Language, it's not as offensive or bad as it sounds i swear, major character developement, mentions of rape and rape recovery, middle schoolers being dumb orz, rape jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-06-24
Packaged: 2018-02-06 02:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1840354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riceman/pseuds/riceman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(alternative title: Homies help Homies. Always.)</p><p>--</p><p>“Well, not everyone thinks that rape is funny, Gilbert,” Francis snapped. Gilbert put up his hands defensively.</p><p>“I never said that rape is funny! It was just a joke, jeez,” he responded.</p><p>--</p><p>through his mistakes and fuck-ups, Gilbert learns about rape culture and feminism. i didn't make this to be funny or sweet, i made it to be informative and teach a moral and also show character development in Gilbert and his friends.</p><p>viewer discretion is highly advise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Just because they didn't grow up doesn't mean we don't have to."

**Author's Note:**

> ***IMPORTANT***
> 
> -there's a lot of very triggering material in this fic, including sexist language and rape jokes 
> 
> -so viewer discretion is highly advised
> 
> -i didn't make this to be a funny fanfic, i made it more to teach a moral and show character development in Gilbert and the bad friends trio (although i did try to add in some other forms of light humor) 
> 
> -and also because i really like the idea of the bad friends trio being feminists and helping Elizaveta and friends crush the patriarchy c: 
> 
>  
> 
> and final notes: i base a lot of what i write on my own experiences and things that go on around me and in society, and this fic is no exception. 
> 
> and final final notes: a lot of what is said by the characters in the beginning absolutely DO NOT reflect my views on the topic
> 
> thank you and i hope you enjoy reading! =^-^=

When Gilbert first heard the word, he hadn't thought much of it. It was just a word that he read in a dumb, boring old book he didn't even want to read in the first place. All the other kids in his grade were out riding skateboards and tubing at the lakes, but he was stuck inside his Grandfather’s gloomy old house copying down vocabulary words from _To Kill a Mockingbird_.

(Later on, Gilbert would look back and wonder, _why the hell did Granddad make me read_ that _book for summer reading when I was ten?_   Captain Underpants _would have been way more appropriate - that’s what all the other kids my age were reading_.)

_“"Rape is a carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent." but Scout doesn't understand this concept anyway because she doesn't have evil concepts like rape in her mind. Atticus tries to explain it as clear as possible however he fails.Calpurnia knew that Atticus was the only one who could explain it to a child so that she sent Scout to Atticus. By the way Aunt Alexandra is shocked because of Atticus's explanation. She finds inappropriate to tell this kind of things to an innocent child””_

...is what Gilbert read on Yahoo! answers when scraping up bits of the novel from the internet in favor of actually reading the book.

Soon, he finished (ahem, “finished”) _To Kill a Mockingbird_ and inevitably forgot everything he attempted to gain from the book and never thought of the word rape until a good two years later in middle school.

“Omigosh, rape!” one of the kid shouted from the back of the bus. This exclamation was followed by an eruption of laughter from some of the seventh and eighth graders.

“Holy shit, Yong Soo, you’re such a perv!” another person laughed. Gilbert and his friend craned their necks to see what was going on back there. The notorious class clown of the seventh grade was pestering his sister’s friend, who laughed and teased him back. Next to them were two other students sitting on each other’s lap, practically eating the other’s face.

“Gross,” Antonio said.

“I hate the older kids so much,” Gilbert said sighing as they turned around.

o-0--0-o

Ironically, Gilbert and Antonio ended up becoming those kids on the bus as they grew older in school. Gilbert was now fourteen and Antonio was fifteen. They had befriended their foreign classmate from France, Francis Bonnefoy and the three of them had become the infamous jokers and comedians of their classes.

I mean, Yong Soo had long moved onto high school so someone had to take over the burden (?) of being the school clowns.

And in this year, it was Gilbert, Francis and Antonio.

“Alright, kids! Current events for the day?” the history teacher asked as the bell rang and kids scrambled to their desks. “Yeah, go for it Laura.” She gestured to the chubby, freckled girl in front who raised her hand.

“Well, uhhh...there were two girls that almost stabbed their classmate to death in Wisconsin.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that!” another boy piped up. “They were like eleven and twelve or something, right?”

“Holy sh- okay, what?” said someone else.

“So there were like two little girls who stabbed one of their classmates because they were trying to impress Slenderman or some weird black magic thing,” Laura continued. “The one they stabbed is okay now, but the two girls are being charged for it and stuff.”

“What the hell, that’s literally insane.”

“No it’s not! That’s totally logical - I mean, if you were going to impress Slenderman stabbing someone is a good way to do it.”

The class fell silent and turned to look at the commenter, Ivan Braginski. He shrugged.

“Not saying it’s something you _should_ do, but if it’s something you’re _going_ to do, that’s a good way to go about it.”

“Slenderman isn't even real,” a quiet voice said from the other side of the class.

“What?”

“You’re talking too soft, Mattie.”

“Wait, we have a Maddie in this class? But there are only seven girls…”

“No, dumbass, Ma-tee, my brother Matthew!”

“You have a brother?”

“Guys!” Ivan snapped. “I was trying to say something about Slenderman!”

“He’s not even real!” Matthew tried again, a little louder this time. Ivan turned towards him and narrowed his eyes.

“Says the little boy wearing a fucking ‘trollface’ t-shirt.”

“Oh come on, it’s Alfred’s. All my shirts are dirty because some douchebag decided that it was okay to dry the dog after a bath with my last batch of clean shirts.” Matthew turned and pointedly glared at his brother. Ivan followed his gaze.

“Alfred, you meme-loving fuck.”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough, guys!” the teacher called, gesturing for the class to calm down. “Anyway, how does this headline affect us? What does it say about some parts of our society?”

Just before a student could raise their hand to answer, the door burst open, letting in three snickering teenage boys. The teacher rolled her eyes.

“Why is it that when something happens, it’s always you three?” Laura sighed.

“This isn't a Harry Potter novel, Laura.” The teacher turned back to the three late boys and said, “and I’m not a Professor Snape, so I’ll give you three one chance to erase your tardies from today by quick telling me an interesting headline you saw in the news, and how it affects our society and culture, and you personally.”

Gilbert, Antonio and Francis all scampered to their seats, grinning. Francis stood up and said, “Well, did you guys hear about that guy who jumped off that one bridge in Paris? He’s _in-Seine_!”

Antonio slapped his desk,  _bad-dum tss_!

The entire class was still for a moment.

“I don’t get it,” Alfred said as he chewed one of his nails idly.

“It’s because he’s American,” Ivan mock-whispered to someone sitting next to him.

“He’s literally the only person in this class who is native to this country. Probably the only one in the whole school, and that will forever confuse me,” Lukas said from next to him. Both boys frowned as they came to a realization about how weird as fuck that was. “He’s not even actually native,” Lukas added.

“Actually, Francis, that’s a perfect joke to lead us into this chapter’s main topic - political groups in the French Revolution.”

“How does the Seine have anything to do with the French Revolution?” a student asked.

“It’s one of those political group thingies, the dudes without pants or whatever. _Seine culottes_?”

“Wait, there’s a political group that doesn't wear pants? Dude that’s awesome!”

“No, you idiot, they wear pants, just not fancy pants,” Matthew hissed to his brother.

“Do they like go to congress without trousers on or some shit?” Alfred grinned.

“No! Dude, did you not just hear me?” Matthew persisted. Alfred turned towards him and the two started to bicker.

“Okay, okay guys, settle down. I have something fun planned for today if we can all control ourselves,” the teacher said over the voices of her rowdy students.

“An activity about what?” Gilbert asked.

“The French Revolution.”

“Will we get to take off our pants?” Francis laughed.

“I’m cool with that. I never wear pants anywhere other than to school and Cash Wise.”

“Sweet! Because I’d like to see you take off your p-”

“No! No one will be taking off their pants!” the teacher yelled. Everyone paused.

“But what if we pee ourselves because we’re having so much fun learning about the revolution?”

o-0--0-o

“Holy shit dude, did you see that one kid in class that was actually about to take off his pants?” Gilbert chortled as the three of them sauntered down the hallways after school.

“Oh my god, yeah! Like he had no idea what was going on, it was crazy hilarious. He speaks like no English. I think he can say ‘how many potato’ and that’s it!” Antonio said. They all laughed.

“Dude, Francis, do you remember when you first came here and your English was as good as Alfred’s French? That shit was ridiculous!” Gilbert continued. Francis threw back his head and laughed along with them.

“Yeah, that was in sixth grade. What a dark time for us all. Alfred kept on trying to talk to me in his horribly butchered and abstract version of French because his brother liked me, it was so weird.”

“Oh oh oh! Francis, do your impression of Alfred speaking French!” Antonio demanded.

“Okay, let’s see - he was like, ‘bon-jer, jay ma pell Eeelfred. Oui oui, too av-wooow baguette?’” Francis imitated. His friends burst out laughing.

“That never gets old.” The three of them laughed as they entered the schoolyard and made their way to the bus stop. Gilbert and Antonio were the only two that rode a bus together, but Francis’s bus came at the same stop, just a little later.

Then Alfred walked past them, poking his brother who looked mildly irritated but more just bored of Alfred’s taunts than anything.

“ _Bon-jer_ , Alfred!” Gilbert called out mockingly. Their classmate turned to them and grinned.

“Dude you can’t even speak it good, it’s _bon-jer_ ,” Alfred laughed. Gilbert and his friends snickered.

“Al, bon-jer is literally what you just said.”

“Holy shit, yeah, it sounds like you’re saying boner,” Antonio said.

“Bon-nerrr,” Alfred said. The students chortled except for Matthew.

“That’s really funny because it’s like - well French is like the rapist language and saying hello in French is like saying boner!” Alfred said.

“Excuse you, French is the language of the romantic!” Francis said.

“Yeah, you guys are like the romantic version of rapists,” Gilbert said.They all laughed again, but Matthew noticed the way Francis’s smile faltered a bit.

“ _Bon-nerrr_!” Alfred and Gilbert joked to each other before the buses started to arrive.

o-0--0-o

 

“Dude, that’s legit! Yeah, okay - wait, yeah,” Gilbert said into his headset as he crammed a couple of oreos into his mouth.

“Gilbert!” a young voice called from upstairs.

“One sec, Luddy!” Gilbert called back around a mouthful of the cookies. “So you said that it happened in the _girl’s bathroom_? At _Skateland_?”  

“Fuck yeah it did! We went to second base, and-”

“Guys, can you shut up for like five minutes? I really need some back up here.”

“Shush it, Eliza, you can-” Gilbert started.

“No, it’s fine! I’ll be there in like a minute, where are you?”

“Oh, thanks. Uh, I’m right by the-”

“Hey GILBERT!” Ludwig shouted.

“Gil, is that your little brother?” Elizaveta asked.

Gilbert sighed. “Yeah, Ludwig. He’s probably-”

“GIIIIIIILBERRRT!”

“Sounds pretty urgent,” she laughed. “Better go take care of it.”

He shrugged and muttered a reluctant agreement before taking off his headset and bounding up the stairs. “What is it?”

“I can’t reach the frying pan in the cupboard,” Ludwig said moodily, standing in the middle of the kitchen.

“Why do you need a frying pan?” Gilbert asked, but he opened the cupboard and got it for him regardless.

“I’m making sausages.”

“Sweet. What kind?”

“That organic Coleman stuff. The sweet apple flavor,” Ludwig said as he finished getting out all the necessary ingredients for making sausages. “Wanna help?”

Gilbert paused before saying, “Yeah, sure. Just lemme go tell Eliza and the guys that I’m gonna be offline for a while.”

When he came back upstairs Ludwig already had the stove on and the pan ready for the meaty links.

“So what’s new with you in the second grade?” Gilbert asked, leaning on the counter with his chin in his hand. Yeah, Gilbert said he was going to help, but Ludwig knew that he never really did much except for keep his company and pretend to be useful in the kitchen.

“Not much. Feliciano and I finally hatched that egg on my Soul Silver game during recess. It was a togepi.”

“Wow, you’re eight years old and practically have a girlfriend already, jeez. Hatching Pokemon eggs and hanging out at recess.” Gilbert laughed as he cracked open a can of Mountain Dew from the fridge.

“Yeah, and you still have zero ladies following after you,” Ludwig said nonchalantly as he plopped the first sausages into the pan. His brother nearly spat out his drink.

“The hell’s the supposed to mean, Luddy?”

“I don’t know. I hear you and your friends talk a lot about girls and stuff, and you always complain how you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, you do. And, well, I don’t know. I was just thinking that maybe if you weren't so rude to girls then maybe they’d like you more.”

“I’m nice to girls!”

“Not really. The walls in this house are thinner than you think and I can hear you shouting stuff into your headset when you play Call of Duty or whatever. One time you told Elizaveta to go back to the kitchen.”

“Yeah, well that was just a joke. I don’t actually think that all girls belong in the kitchen, Luddy.”

“So then why did you say it?”

Gilbert paused. “I...uh…”

“Do you like Elizaveta?”

“What?”

“Do you like Elizaveta?” Ludwig repeated.

“Well - I mean, she’s got a really good killstreak and her eyes are pretty-”

“Then why don’t you tell her?”

“Because that’s not what guys do when they like a girl, Luddy.”

“Sooo...what you’re saying is that when a guy likes a girl he makes demeaning remarks

to her?”

“Well - no, that’s not exactly what happens, but-” Gilbert faltered over his words. Ludwig stared at him, not amused by his stuttering, as he shifted the pan a little bit over the stove.

“Next time you want to communicate to a girl that you like her, try telling her that she has pretty eyes. Or that she has a good killstreak. Telling her that she should go back to the kitchen won’t really do the trick, brother.”

o-0--0-o

That was the first time someone had really said words that got Gilbert to think about how he treated people and how his jokes affected them. The second time he was with Antonio and Francis on the bus to Antonio’s house. It was a Friday, and the Friday tradition was for all of them to go over to Antonio’s and watch Burn Notice and House reruns.

On the bus ride there is when Gilbert made the first raunchy joke of the night.

“Dude, make that face again! I want to take a picture!” Alfred said loudly as he pulled out his iPhone.

“Okay, okay, one sec mate. I have to get my eyebrows right,” Jett laughed. Gilbert and his friends sat and watched Jett closely, anticipating the hilarious expression he would make and the chortles that would follow. Jett turned away from them for a moment, and when he turned back all the boys laughed.

“Holy shit, J, that’s like the classic rape face!” Alfred said.

“I know right? Did you get a picture?”

“Fuck yeah I did!”

“Okay, okay, but guys, you should like hear Gilbert’s ‘kesese’ laugh, it’s like the best. It’s like the classic rapist laugh!” Feliks said from the seat across from them.

“Feliks,” his friend said in a warning tone.

“What? It’s like really funny, Toris!” Toris just sighed and Feliks turned back the group of boys. “Do the thing, Gilbert.”

“Okay, okay, lemme see...I have to get the right throat tone.”

“What the fuck is a throat tone?”

“Shush it, here it comes…” Gilbert said, taking a deep breath before bursting out, “Keseseseseseseseseeeee!”

Everyone burst out laughing. He repeated again, this time saying, “Kesesesese, I will rape you in your sleeeeep!”

The middle schoolers continued to joke around and chuckle loudly as if the entire topic was just fun and games. Feliks, Alfred and a few other kids laughed at the newest joke that came out of Gilbert’s mouth, but Matthew, sitting quietly with a book in his hand next to his brother, noticed the way Francis’s smile was completely forced and how tense his jaw was. He also noticed the way that Antonio glanced nervously back and forth between the group of laughing boys and his friend.

Matthew climbed over his brother to get closer to Francis and whispered, “Hey, are you okay?” Francis snapped out of his angry glare into nothing and directed his gaze to Matthew.

“Ah, yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“Alright. If you want to move up front and sit by Moana and Ivan with me you can,” he suggested. Francis smiled but shook his head.

“Ah, no, I’m okay. Merci, cher.” Matthew returned his smile eagerly.

“De rien.”

o-0--0-o

“Hey, Gil, maybe you should be a little more careful with your jokes,” Antonio said quietly as the three of them got off the bus.

“Huh?”

“He said maybe you should be a little more careful with your jokes,” Francis repeated for him.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, not everyone thinks that rape is funny, Gilbert,” Francis snapped. Gilbert put up his hands defensively.

“I never said that rape is funny! It was just a _joke_ , jeez,” he responded.

“It was a joke intended to be funny, though, and since _you_ were the one making it that implies that _you think that it’s funny_ ,” Francis continued coldly.

“Okay, dude, what are you getting at?”

“I’m getting at that rape is not a thing to joke about, and _it’d be really nice if you stopped_.”

“Oh come on, Francis! You used to laugh at my jokes all the time, and all the sudden they aren't funny anymore because you turned into a wimp and decided that funny jokes are fucking offensive?”

“No, I ‘decided’ they weren't funny when I fucking grew up and saw how fucking sick rape is and how sick it is that people joke about it!” Francis shouted as he raised his fist.

“Whoa, hey now,” Antonio said as he stepped between the two and put a hand on his friend’s fist. Francis’s face had gone red and he was glaring daggers at Gilbert.

“I can’t fucking deal with you anymore,” he sneered before turning around to walk off. Antonio and Gilbert watched him go.

“Friggin’ hell, what’s his problem?” Gilbert said. Antonio sighed.

“Gil, let’s take a walk, okay?” he said, putting his arm around his friend's shoulders and steering him in the opposite direction.

o-0--0-o

“So let’s set up a scenario,” Antonio started as they walked slowly down the sidewalk. “I know you love your brother a lot. In fact, as an observer but also as the person who probably knows you the best, I’d say that he’s like the most important thing in the world to you, am I right?”

“Well, I mean, yeah of course. Why wouldn't he be?”

“Okay. Then what would you do if, let’s say, if Ludwig got stabbed?”

“Wait, what?”

“Just listen. Would you be upset if Ludwig got stabbed?”

“Fuck yeah of course I would! I would hunt the cunt down and-”

“No need to continue, I get the picture. Anyway, so Ludwig got stabbed, and it was horrible and scarring for both of you, but now he’s doing better. Then you get on the bus the next day and you hear someone say, ‘wow, look at Bob and how funny his stabbing Ludwig face is!’” Antonio stopped walking and carefully studied Gilbert’s expression. “Would you be a little pissed?”

“Of course I would, man!”

“Now put Francis in that situation.”

“What do you-oh. But why...?”

Antonio sighed. “Okay, Gil, I’m going to tell you something that Francis told me, but you need to swear to never, ever, ever, ever, _ever_ tell another person. Okay?”

“Okay,” Gilbert said slowly.

“Okay. You know that Francis has been in and out of foster care for the past six months or so, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, apparently he was reunited with this little girl he was best friends with in France through foster care in America. I’m not exactly sure how that happened, but anyway. She’s a victim of rape, and it’s really hard for her to do normal daily stuff now because it was so traumatic for her. Francis gets to see that first hand, and I can’t imagine how hard it is for him to watch that, and how much harder it must be for Chelle to go through something like that. So for him hearing ‘haha, look at Bob’s rape face’ is basically the same thing as you hearing ‘haha, look at Bob’s stabbing Ludwig face.’” Antonio paused. “Except probably like ten times worse. Are you starting to see what I’m trying to say here?” He leaned so he could get a better look at Gilbert’s face. He had an expression as if he just actually saw Ludwig get stabbed. He looked up at Antonio, face melting into shock and horror at the realization of all the rape comments he had made over the last six months.

“Fuck. _Fuck._ Antonio, I am an _asshole_.” Tears welled up in Gilbert’s eyes. He looked away, glancing everywhere except for his friend. “I can’t believe I made all those jokes and - and - _fuck_. I am a terrible friend.”  His voice cracked as tears started to run down his cheeks.

Antonio shrugged, not really agreeing with his friend but definitely not disagreeing with him.

“I need to go apologize. Like, _right now_ ,” Gilbert said weakly. He started off in the direction that Francis had headed in, but Antonio stopped him.

“Not right now, Gil. I think it’d be better if we let Francis calm down a bit. Besides, you look pretty pale, and not really ready to...talk about this,” he said. Gilbert continued to wipe at his eyes frantically and avert his gaze. He locked his eyes on a tree across the street and concentrated on not crying, but he couldn't hold back the shallow breaths that were coming through his tears. _Shit. I am a fucking awful person_.

“Come on, my dad made some flan a couple nights ago, but I’m pretty sure that it’s still good. Just don’t eat it all,” Antonio comforted as he put his arm around Gilbert and lead him up his driveway and inside.

“What about Francis?”

“He’ll be okay. It’s not the first time he’s gotten upset over ‘jokes’ like that and it sure as fuck won’t be the last - I mean, it’s the fucking eighth grade, everyone is gonna be really stupid and immature and insensitive. They’ll probably be like that through high school too, and maybe some of them will never learn to grow up, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't. I think it just hurts him more than anything to hear you say things like that and disregard other people’s feelings on the topic - especially his.” Antonio paused. “But yeah, he’ll be fine.”

 

o-0--0-o

“I knew you weren't okay,” Matthew said as he stumbled out of his front yard tree in an ungraceful fashion. “Do you wanna talk, Francis?” He got up from where he half-fell and jogged up to his classmate.

“Not really,” Francis scowled.

“That’s okay.”

“I know it’s okay, don’t tell me.”

“Hey,” Matthew started, ignoring his snappy reply. “I have some pancakes that I made last week, if you want you can have some.” Francis looked over at him, expression a mix between confusion and slight disgust. “Oh, um, not like from last week _from last week_ , I froze them and I know when I get upset it usually helps to suck or chew on something cold. Plus, my pancakes are out-of-this world good - I even have chocolate chips in them.”

Francis stopped walking and sighed. “Alright.”

Matthew lead him back to his house and up the front porch steps. He paused. “I think we’d better eat them out here. My house is really dirty right now and I don’t really like people seeing the place when it’s in such a shamble…” he laughed nervously. “Just wait here.”

“Okay.”

Matthew returned shortly carrying a paper plate stacked with frozen chocolate chip pancakes. “Here we go.” He smiled and set the plate down on the picnic bench. The two boys sat in silence as they chewed on bits of frozen pancakes.

“So where’re your parents? You make it sound as if you own the place and do all the housework,” Francis said.

“Haha...yeah, well. I kinda do. Mom works full-time like every day and Dad’s still doing his time in jail.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, cher.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Alfred’s usually hanging out with his high school friends or playing football, and one can only spend so much of their time making pancakes and watching animal documentaries. So I try to keep the place as nice as I can.”

The two lapsed into another minute of contented silence. Francis finally started to feel himself cool down and return to his usual suave self. He looked over at Matthew and studied him with an air of affection. Matthew was a little shorter than him, held himself quietly and sincerely, if a little bit awkward or clumsy at times. From his time observing his classmate Francis came to the conclusion that whatever he was trying to do, Matthew’s intentions were heartfelt and usually good. Matthew reminded him of Chelle.

Then a telephone from inside the house rang loudly, sharply interrupting the serenity of the moment. Matthew jumped to his feet and dashed inside. Francis watched him curiously, wondering idle things like who was calling, what did they want, was it maybe a friend or family member of Matthew’s? Francis briefly entertained the thought that it might be his dad calling from jail. He himself had had enough experience with parents and family in prison, so he could relate.

Ironically, Matthew appeared on the porch moments later and said, “Sorry, Francis, it’s my dad. I...I kinda need to take this.” He smiled apologetically. Francis nodded and returned the smile.

“That’s okay. Antonio and Gilbert are probably wondering where I am. Thanks for the pancakes, cher.” Then he got up and walked over to Matthew, giving him a tight hug. “Try not to stress yourself too much, cher. If you ever want to call me, Alfred has my number.” He pulled back and winked, then made a kissy face. Matthew rolled his eyes.

“Francis you are such a charmer with those faces.”

“It’s just one of my many talents, cher,” he called over his shoulder as he walked away.

“Wow. Okay then.” Matthew paused. “You too, Francis,” he added more quietly.

“Huh?” Francis stopped.

“I said you too. You know...try not to stress yourself out too much. And remember, you have lots of friends that care about you.”

He paused and let Matthew’s words sink in, then grinned brightly. “Okay, okay, as long as you remember that you have friends too.” Matthew beamed back at him before turning around and retreating inside the house.

o-0--0-o

“Don’t beat yourself up over it too much, Gilbert,” Antonio said, taking a seat next to his friend at the counter. “Francis is the forgiving type.” He took a mouthful of flan and stopped to think for a moment. “Well, he is if you’re really sorry anyway. Like really sorry and regretful of your actions.” He looked over at Gilbert. “And I’m pretty sure that you definitely are.”

Gilbert nodded weakly, taking a bite of his own serving of flan. It was a couple days old and a little funny smelling, but still good. Antonio’s family made the best flan. Gilbert managed a small smile, trying to think ahead to after the inevitable confrontation with Francis and how they would all be seated around Antonio’s kitchen soon counter eating flan and laughing about something silly like those cat videos Feliks had shown them a couple days ago. It would be silly humor - silly and not offensive or sick.

“Yo, speak of the devil,” Antonio said, turning around in his chair as Francis quietly opened the screen door and stepped inside. It took everything Gilbert had in him to keep himself from running straight to his friend and getting on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness. Instead, as composedly as he could, he stood up and walked over to Francis. Francis just stared at him coldly.

“I’m going to leave now,” Antonio said upon realizing that this was something that Gilbert and Francis should talk about by themselves. “I’m also gonna take the rest of the flan if no one minds.” He grabbed both his and Gilbert’s dishes and scampered outside to his back porch. “Adios, friends.”

The two remaining boys were left in an uncomfortable silence. Francis just continued to pin Gilbert with his glare and the latter looked everywhere other than his friend’s face. Francis was sure as fuck not going to initiate this confrontation. Gilbert had already put him through enough bullshit with all his disgusting jokes. They both stood there a little while more before Gilbert finally broke the silence.

“I - I think I owe you an apology.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously, then shook his head. “N-no, I...I know I owe you an apology.” He finally looked at Francis directly. “Francis...I’m really sorry that I made all those jokes about rape. I...well, at the time I was just being dumb and childish and I didn't understand the effect my jokes had on you - and probably other people too - and I know my natural tendency to be kind of a douchebag is no excuse for all the things I've said, and I just - I just...I’m really sorry, okay? I’ll never make a rape joke ever again - and...and not just because it bothers you and other people around me (although that’s a big part of it) but also because now I realize how sick and disgusting it is to make jokes about something that can be so devastating and traumatic for people...it - it’s not funny at all, and I was a total asshole for saying all those things, and I’m so, so sorry, Francis. I know that I’m kind of - well, a really shitty friend, but I hope that you can forgive me, because you know, I am really, really sorry and-”

“It’s okay.”

“What?”

“It’s okay, man, you can stop babbling. You’re really sorry. I get it.”

“Yeah, and I know-”

“Shoosh, mon cher.” Francis reached up and put his hands on Gilbert’s shoulders, looking him directly in the eyes. “I...well, based on that whole speech, I’m thinking that you’re starting to get the idea of why rape jokes are so wrong and disgusting.”

“No - I have the idea that they’re really wrong and disgusting and-”

“Shoosh, Gil, I wasn't finished yet.” He took a deep breath. “As much as I really hate the things that you say sometimes, I still don’t hate you, and I forgive you for being such an ass. You’re genuinely sorry, and I really appreciate that. Thank you Gilbert.” The two middle schoolers looked at each other and smiled tentatively. Then Francis started laughing.

“What?” Gilbert said, now genuinely confused.

“Remember that time we posted our phone numbers on Mademoiselle Parre’s powerpoint  prez when she was out of the room? It was something like ‘call for a classy time and escargot - F. Bonnefoy’ and yours was something like ‘DAS IST WIENER SCHNITZEL - G. Beilschmidt’ with a bunch of explanation marks? Everyone was laughing when the powerpoint started playing again and that showed up.”

“I...yeah, I do remember that. That was pretty great - except none of the girls in the class actually called us.” Gilbert paused. “No one did,” he chuckled. “I don’t even know why you were in Mademoiselle Parre’s French class, you speak it fluently.”

Francis shrugged. “It’s was an easy A,” he smiled. “But let’s not forget the time when you, Antonio and I went to that bible study and pretended to have a really gay threeway in front of the church doors. The group leader was so embarrassed that her kids were such shits!”

Gilbert joined Francis in his laughter at these memories. “And the time we put peanut butter all over our faces because your mom was out of that facial wash stuff? We used like the whole jar!”

“Yeah! And when my mom yelled at us for it you totally said that you ate the whole friggin’ jar! She believed you too!”

“French people and their American peanut butter obsession, I tell ya.” Both boys smiled fondly at each other as they recalled these times.

“Gilbert, you’re not a bad friend,” Francis said as their laughing died down. “You’re a great friend, and a great person. Sometimes you just say bad things.”

Gilbert looked away again. “I know. But I won’t anymore, I promise.”

Francis smiled. “Okay.”

o-0--0-o

The rest of that Friday night was spent finishing off the flan and making some more, although it didn't turn out nearly as good as when Antonio’s parents made it. As usual, Gilbert was useless in the kitchen and Antonio really didn't do anything but hinder Francis as he actually tried to follow the recipe. Lots of laughs and good memories were made in their flan-making adventures, and even more came as they all sat down to eat it in front of the TV.

“Guys, I have something new that we should watch,” Antonio said excitedly.

“Please don’t tell me that we’re gonna be watching some obscure nineties cartoon from Belgium again,” Gilbert groaned. Antonio smiled.

“Welll...it’s still a cartoon, but this is way, way better than _A Town Called Panic_. Lovino’s brother showed it to me - it’s called Adventure Time.”

Gilbert was wary that Antonio’s mouth would fall off his face with a grin that big. His friend held up the DVD happily, studying the other two’s expressions anxiously. Gilbert and Francis exchanged apprehensive glances.

“I dunno...doesn't it look a little...childish?” Gilbert said. They all paused for a moment. Francis shrugged.

“Chelle watches this show all the time. And I mean, it’s a kid’s cartoon but it’s still got really good reviews,” Francis said.

“Whatever. Let’s go for it,” Gilbert decided. Antonio was already across the room popping the disc into the DVD player.

“Awesome. Let’s have ourselves a night filled with flan, laughter and the best kids’ cartoon there is around!” Antonio beamed.

“Toni, that is literally the cheesiest thing I've ever heard you say,” Gilbert said as the first episode started.

“Shoosh, Gilbert! It’s starting.”

o-0--0-o

As Gilbert, Antonio and Francis kept watching Adventure Time, they started to grow fond of the show. Gilbert would watch new episodes of it on Thursdays with Ludwig, Francis started to catch up with the series on Netflix so he and Chelle could talk about it, and Antonio always played it when he was babysitting Lovino and Feliciano.

A good year had passed since the ordeal with the rape jokes and Gilbert’s promise to never make one again. He held strong and true on the promise, much to the pleasure of everyone around him and himself.

“Hey, Gilbert,” Francis said to him one Friday as they finished an episode of what had now become their favorite show. Francis looked across to both his friends and smiled slightly. “I want you guys to meet Chelle. What are you doing tomorrow night?”

Antonio and Gilbert both beamed. “Hell man, we’re not doing anything tonight, if she wanted to hang out with us now,” Gilbert said.

“Yeah, we’d love to meet her. You talk about her all the time, and it sounds like she’s been doing so well lately,” Antonio contributed.

“Well, she’s going fishing with Moana and her family tonight, but Saturday afternoon she and I are helping Eliza paint some signs for a feminist march,” Francis explained.

“Whoa, cool,” Gilbert said. A year ago he would have laughed and made a demeaning and sexist remark about feminism, but in the past twelve months he had learned so much about equality, rape culture and other things through Francis, and eventually Elizaveta when she started to join in their group too.

Since Antonio and Gilbert knew about what had happened to Chelle and how she was affected, Francis had been giving them regular updates on how she was dealing with it and learning to cope. He had also given them some other information about how they could help spread awareness about sexual abuse and rape, and all three of them were putting the new information to good use. Antonio even heard Gilbert chewing out Alfred and a couple other guys about using the r-word in a joking matter.

But even with all the stories Francis had about Chelle, they still hadn't met her yet. After the Friday night’s weekly episodes of Burn Notice and Adventure Time, the three of them planned out a time where they would meet up with Chelle, her friend Moana, and Francis at Noodles & Company for lunch before going over to Elizaveta’s to get ready for the march.

Neither of them had been to a march of any kind before, and it was exciting to finally be able to attend an event centered around something they had become so passionate about in the last year.

“Alright, so I’ll see you guys at noon tomorrow on Broadway? We can walk to Noodle & Co. from there.”

“Yeah, sounds good, Francis.”

“Works for me too.”

“Alright, I’ll see you guys tomorrow!”

o-0--0-o

To be honest, Gilbert had a lot of subconscious expectation about what Chelle would be like when he met her. He was expecting to meet a wilted, shy little girl. He was not expecting to meet a talkative, bouncy young lady who probably had enough energy to fuel the city for a year.

“Holy smokes, Franci-pants, it’s your friends!” Chelle beamed as her foster brother and his mates approached them outside Noodles & Company. “Hi! I’m Chelle!” she said excitedly, reaching out her hand to shake. Gilbert smiled. Chelle was cute and charming and he could tell she would make a great friend. That is, if she even wanted to be friends.

“I’m Gilbert, and this is Antonio,” he said as they shook.

“Hola,” Antonio grinned. Chelle waved at him enthusiastically even though they were standing barely a yard apart.

“Cheeeeelle!” Francis cooed as he embraced her. She hugged back tightly before he pulled away. They started conversing in rapid French then, Chelle occasionally gesturing to his friends and probably asking a question which Francis gladly answered.

“Theeeeey’re talking about yooooou,” the girl standing next to Chelle whispered ominously.

“What?”

“I’m just joking.” She laughed. “But they talk about people all the time in French; I've learned to pick up a little bit of it. You have been deemed suitable to receive a friendship application from Chelle at the most.”

Antonio and Gilbert laughed awkwardly. “Um...what?”

“I’m just kidding again. Anyway, I should probably introduce myself. I actually go to school with you, but most people don’t know me. I’m kinda overshadowed by my bro, Jett. You probably know him. Anyway, I’m his sister, Moana!” She grinned, outstretching her hand. Antonio and Gilbert both shook it.

“Shall we go in and get ourselves some munchies?” Chelle said, turning back to them. They all smiled.

“Of course!” Antonio said as they headed inside.

o-0--0-o

It turns out that Chelle and Gilbert had tons of things in common, and it was easy to hold up a conversation with her. Gilbert had worn his Adventure Time t-shirt in hopes of making initial conversation with her easier, but it turns out that they didn't even need that, although they did come back to the topic several times.

Antonio was entertaining two cute girls nearby with his ability to flawlessly twirl spaghetti around a fork, and Francis was having a pleasant conversation with Moana about the march happening later. The all had an enjoyable time, but the lunch eventually came to an end. They headed back to Elizaveta’s place, leftover boxes in tow.

“Yo, did you leave any for me?” their classmate joked as she opened the door for them.

“Actually, yeah we did,” Antonio said as he fished a takeout box out of a brown paper bag. “Noodles with curry.”

Elizaveta took the box and looked back at him pleasantly. “Wow, I was joking, but thanks. Sorry I couldn't make it out to lunch today, I had to drive Roderich to his piano recital because he failed to get his license yet again.” She rolled her eyes but smiled fondly. “Anyway, come on in and make yourselves at home. I've only got some construction paper signs put together right now, but I just picked up some cardstock from Walmart so we can start using that.”

“Awesome. Let’s do this,” Gilbert grinned as they all crowded around Elizaveta’s living room and got to work on their signs.

o-0--0-o

“Um...guys? Do you think this is okay?” Chelle asked as she finally finished her sign. She had been sitting in front of the cardstock rectangle for a good twenty minutes before deciding what to put on it. Elizaveta craned her neck to get a look at the writing.

_I need feminism because I was told_

_“I should be grateful”_

The room fell silent for a moment.

“Chelle...if you’re comfortable putting that out there, then...well, go for it,” Antonio started.

“You don’t think it’s too personal?”

“If you’re comfortable with it, then it being personal just adds so much more meaning to it. Someone will see that, and it’ll make them stop and think for a moment.”

“I agree with Toni,” Gilbert said. “Chelle, it’s very brave of you to share your story - even if it’s just through one sentence - to help others become more aware of the things happening in our society. It’s awesome, really.”

Chelle looked around her friends and smiled tentatively. “You think so?”

“Of course.”

o-0--0-o

The march was a huge success, and many memorable moments were had. Since then, Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis had formed a tight-knit relationship with Chelle, Elizaveta and even Moana. Eventually Matthew came into the picture too, as Francis’s boyfriend.

The group hung out often and helped each other when they were down. Things were still far from perfect for Chelle, and Matthew and Francis both had lots of problems with their own families, Elizaveta faced the struggle of being queer and also an aspiring politician, Moana struggled with her and her brother’s disagreements on the world, and Antonio and Gilbert didn't exactly lead perfect lives either, but they were all there for each other when they needed it.

Every Friday night up until college, the group would have Adventure Time marathons, and they even adopted their favorite quote from the show to be their motto.

_“Homies help homies, always.”_

And they did help each other, and the world around them.

After struggling with their identity and coming to certain realizations, Moana Johanson became one of the most influential trans men in the US.

Chelle Bonnefoy went on to tell her story and eventually lead a whole Women’s Right political movement with congresswoman Elizaveta Havardy.

Antonio Fernandez joined a biker gang that provided temporary foster care and protection for children that had been abused.

Francis and Matthew eventually got married and started their own happy family.

Gilbert continued on with his support and participation in the feminist movement, and even though he himself was not particularly known for his doings, he helped other great people, like Moano and Chelle and Elizaveta and Antonio become recognized for all the good work and change they had made in the world.

_After all, homies help homies. Always._

 

**Author's Note:**

> things you should know about this fic: 
> 
> -(as i stated before):
> 
> -i based a lot of this off my own experiences with rape jokes and rape culture
> 
> -the views and comments made by Gilbert and some of the other kids in the beginning absolutely DO NOT reflect my stance on the topic
> 
> -i wanted to give human aph New Zealand a gender-neutral Maori name, and the only name i could find for that was Moana. i'm not completely sure if that's even gender neutral, but according to my shittydick search engine, that one was it c':
> 
> -when Francis is imitating Alfred's French, he's trying to say "Bonjour je m'appelle Alfred, tu avoir baguette?" which is a really shittydick translated version of saying "Hello my name is Alfred, are you a baguette?" 
> 
> -if you want a better translated version of how to introduce yourself and ask someone if they are a baguette, here you go: 
> 
> "Bonjour, je m'appelle [your name]. Etes-vous une baguette?" 
> 
> (why on earth you would ever need to say that i don't know. but if you do, there it is.) 
> 
> and final notes: thank you so much for reading! all the hits and kudos on any of my work means a lot to me, and, as always, i hope you enjoyed my writing! =^-^=


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